Labor Day BBQ at Snow Park, 2pm

OO’s Nomads are hosting a potluck BBQ at Snow Park at 2 PM on Labor Day, September 3rd. Bring a dish to share with your comrades & cronies.

OK, Labor Day is the establishment’s alternative to May 1st, International Workers’ Day, celebrated by progressives all over the world. May Day started as a commemoration of 7 anarchists unjustly sentenced to execution after being railroaded after an incident at a workers’ demonstration in Chicago in 1866. But even that attempted cooptation of workers’ own celebration of their solidarity had to be rung out of the ruling class after 13 workers had been shot down by US Marshals & about 12,000 army troops sent to crush the Pullman Strike in 1882.

But I guess Americans have to be grateful that their corporate masters give them any time off at all, the US government does not mandate it, and indeed, a quarter of American workers get no paid vacation time, not even the miserly number of often-paid national holidays. At least 24 industrialized nations mandate a minimum of 4 weeks of paid vacation, in addition to more generous allocations of national holidays. Brazil, France & Finland guarantee 6 weeks of paid vacation. But in this ‘No-Vacation Nation’ many workers are afraid to even take off the 2 weeks of vacation time their companies might offer them because so few legal protections are in place to prevent them from being laid off. Besides, with the ever-increasing pace of work many employees are afraid they wouldn’t be able to cope with the backlog of work awaiting them when they returned from holiday. And with the increasing prevalence of electronic gizmos tying Americans to their jobs 24/7 taking time off often just means working from somewhere other than the office. Americans have less vacation time than citizens of any other advanced economy, working an extra 350 hours a year more than Europeans (the equivalent of 9 full working weeks). Even in Japan, where they have a special word for working yourself to death (Karōshi), the government mandates 25 days of paid time off of work each year.

Anywho, it should be more fun than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Why not attend the Chevron march at Point Richmond and make a day of it?

The great railway strikes in Chicago -- miles of burned freight cars in the railroad yards.

THE VILLAGE ROUND 2 AT THE OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL LIFE ENRICHMENT COMMITTEE We are very pleased to be supporting the Village in their work to acquire a City-owned parcel for an encampment. At Council on September 19th we passed the first reading of the Shelter Crisis Ordinance, which will receive its second reading October 3rd. In the meantime, we’re going to urge this Council Committee to lock in an address! You can sign up for both Open Forum and Agenda Item 3, which is the first item of the day. We’d … Continued

You are invited to spend an evening with Aura Tegría Cristancho, U’wa indigenous woman lawyer, who is an integral force in the protections of indigenous rights and forests in Colombia. The U’wa consider themselves the guardians of their sacred ancestral homeland. In accordance with their natural laws, for centuries they have successfully defended their territory high in the Andean cloud forests. The U’wa have resisted conquistadors, missionaries, colonists, and, more recently, the oil industry, guerrillas, the military and paramilitary groups active in the region. A testament to the strength of … Continued

This public working meeting of the External Organizing Committee is a chance for members to do the work of running our outward-facing campaigns, building our district canvassing program, and recruiting new members. Everyone is welcome regardless of skills or experience!63695

Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. You’ll also hear about SURJ’s new pathways for entering the work, including Study and Action groups as well as committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We’ll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice. Getting Into the Lobby: The doors for the Sierra Club building lock right at 7pm, so please do your best to arrive prior to 7pm. We will have someone stationed at the … Continued

A wireless mesh network is a network where each computer acts as a relay to other computers, such that a network can stretch to cover entire cities. Last Tuesdays of the month are general orientation meetings for new volunteers. (The first three Tuesdays of the month are open hacknights – we stay focused! ) Our goal is to create a wireless mesh network that is owned and operated by the community. Want to help create an alternate means of digital communication that isn’t governed by for-profit internet service providers? We … Continued

The Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board will hear from Attorney General Becerra and will discuss the outline and content for their first annual report on racial and identity profiling by law enforcement. The RIPA Board was established for one simple reason; the people of California demanded it. Now we need to turn up and hold the RIPA Board & Attorney General accountable to ensure the collection and analysis of law enforcement data to eliminate racial and identify profiling in policing. For more background about RIPA and its members, … Continued

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